Sprinklings of history, a smidgen of genealogy, a dash of art & a dusting of architecture, all mixed together with my eccentric fascinations

10 October 2014

England: A day in Exeter

Steeped
in history, with a stunning cathedral and the lure of river-side cafes, Devon’s
county town of Exeter
is well worth a visit.

Exeter Cathedral facade

We drove
to the outskirts of city then opted to park ‘n’ ride as parking is expensive in
the city centre – indeed, in most English city centres. The heavens opened as
we hurried from car to bus stop and as my jacket was only shower-proof I got
rather soggy, not an auspicious start to the day’s sightseeing. But I soon
dried off, the sun came out and the weather continued good for the rest of the
day.

First
stop, Exeter Cathedral, where we mooched for the better part of an hour. Entry
wasn’t cheap at six quid each, particularly considering they’d run out of free
guidebooks, and the organ was being renovated and parts of the cathedral’s
exterior were being restored, meaning photo opportunities were restricted by
the cumbersome scaffolding inside and out, by areas of the cathedral being
roped off and by the truck parked in the entrance. I was not particularly
impressed at being charged full price in those conditions. But my moaning ends
there, as it is an incredible structure, one of England’s most noteworthy
cathedrals and as fine an example of Gothic architecture as you’ll see
anywhere.

For
me, the delight is in the details. First, the ceiling bosses – a long way up to
be sure but worth craning your neck and zooming in with your camera to see the
intricate designs, all finely carved and coloured with subjects including
biblical stories, human figures, naturalistic and fabulous scenes.

And, if your
neck’s arthritic or your lens doesn’t zoom, there’s a replica boss to admire.
Rather than weighing two tons, like some of the largest on the ceiling, the
replica is almost as light as a feather, made from papier maché over a wood and
wire frame and then finished with acrylic paints. It’s an almost exact copy of
the 700-year-old boss in the centre of the crossing between the transepts and
its subject, three dragons and a knight, apparently represents the
Christian soul trampling on the world, the flesh and the devil.

The
cathedral contains more statues, memorials and effigies than I’ve ever seen in
one religious building before and the variety is such that, when we visited, one
corner of the building was devoted to an exhibition explaining the changing
fashions in grave markers over the centuries. The photo above shows two of the
more grand memorials. On the left lies Bishop Qinel, the 13th bishop of Exeter, who’s credited
with initiating the construction of the cathedral we see today. He died in
1291. On the right, the fabulous woman with the skull, who died in 1614, was
Lady Dorothy Dodderidge. Her inscription translates as follows: ‘Here
lies Dorothy the wife of John Doderidge, knight, one of the Justices of the
Lord King assigned at the Pleas held before the King, and daughter of Amisus [Latinised
form]Bampfield,
knight, who died on the first of March in the Year of Our Lord 1614’.

I
couldn’t help but feel I was constantly being watched as I strolled Exeter’s hallowed halls
and it was nothing to do with a religious presence. There are human heads and
faces everywhere, not only on the effigies and memorials but seemingly carved
into every available surface, stone and wooden. And then there are the animals
– elephants, eagles, crocodiles, you name it – the place is a veritable Noah’s
Arc of creatures.

Designed by George Gilbert Scott in the 1870s, the choir stalls, in particular, are alive with beasties. And don’t even get me started on
the misericords – Exeter has the earliest set in
England,
dating from the mid-13th century, or the owls – one of the side chapels is full
of these, in wood, stone and tapestry. I’ll leave you to discover why.

One thing I didn’t
expect to see in the cathedral was the magnificent clock that hangs on the
north wall. Gifted by Bishop Courtenay in 1484, at its
centre is a globe representing the earth, around which revolves the moon,
turning on its axis to show the phases. The motto, ‘Pereunt et imputantur’, at
the bottom of the clock, is from the Latin poet Martial and can be translated
‘the hours pass and are reckoned to our account’ – or, in more modern parlance,
‘time passes, spend it wisely’. Good advice!

So far, I’ve focused here
on the cathedral’s interior but the exterior is equally magnificent. The façade
is particularly imposing. As regular readers will know, I am a huge fan of
gargoyles so, for me, the gargoyles were a special highlight – those around the
exterior of Exeter Cathedral are some of the finest I’ve ever seen. The oldest
ones have deteriorated badly through time and are almost completely eroded away
in places but there are newer ones that have some incredible expressions on
their faces. The modern sculptor obviously had a keen sense of the bizarre and
the fantastic.

A
lovely square and old buildings surround the cathedral. We discovered a couple
of wonderfully carved wooden doors, the black-and-white half-timbered buildings
date from the 1500s and, in one corner, sits St Martin’s Church, dating from
the Norman Conquest.

We
lunched in the square at an outdoor café, enjoying the sunshine and people
watching, before walking along a couple of streets to RAMM, the Royal Albert
Memorial Museum – another splendid building, with a new construction butting on
to its rear; an elegant foyer, with pink painted walls and a life-size statue
of Prince Albert in pride of place halfway up the grand branching staircase;
and interesting exhibitions about the local area, from Neolithic and Roman
times (the town has about 70% of its Roman wall still extant) to the modern day
(clay mining and pottery works, tin mining, etc).

To
finish our day, we headed down to the quay via two of the oldest buildings in
the city (one of which, below left, had been moved to make way for a modern road) and made a
quick visit to nearby Cricklepitt Mill (the mill wasn’t working that day but two
of its three wheels are used to generate electricity and it boasts a lovely
wild garden which we explored).

The
quay sits alongside the River Exe and the ExeterShip Canal,
where ships would have loaded and unloaded their cargoes in centuries past. The
old warehouses are now being converted to apartments and shops, restaurants and
cafes, like the one where we enjoyed drinks and cake. Kayakers, peddle-boaters
and rowers were enjoying the waters, and one rather quirky feature was the
hand-powered ferry that was doing a roaring trade carrying folks across the
canal (30p for adults, 20p for kids). And these were just a few of Exeter’s attractions. I’m
obviously going to visit again – and so should you!

About Me

I am a writer and photographer; project
manager and English teacher; knitter and genealogist; fungi forayer and bird
watcher; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and child sponsor; tree
lover and cat person; researcher and blogger; nemophilist; and traveller.